Reason
by ROACR
Summary: About a year after the defeat of the Black Arms, Shadow searches for a new purpose in life, his previous one fufilled. Will he find one, or decide to fade away? Possible ShadAmy later in the story.


On the abandoned ARK orbiting Earth, a black hedgehog looked down on the blue planet from the observation deck. At least 2 hours ago, a meteor and an alien race threatened to destroy it. Using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, that very hedgehog defeated their leader, and destroyed the meteor with the power of the Eclipse Cannon, the very weapon that was misused as a threat to the world by the man known as Dr. Robotnik, a.k.a. Eggman, the grandson of the hedgehog's creator.

The Ultimate Life Form…Shadow the Hedgehog…

Shadow was holding a picture of his creator, Gerald Robotnik and his first and only friend in the world, Maria. Despite how the President and GUN had dropped all charges against Shadow for being suspected of helping the Black Arms, and how the world welcome him in opening arms for saving it, or at least dropped of GUN's hit list, Shadow couldn't bring himself to go back to Earth. He couldn't place his finger on it, but after the battle with 'Devil Doom', the true form of the asteroid, something inside of him struck him like a knife going right through his mind, body, and soul. Was it a side effect of destroying the Black Arms? Or something else? No….he knew. He knew what it was. Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form, had served his purpose. With the Black Arms gone forever, he had served his mission in life. Now there was nothing left for him.

Gerald…Maria…

During the time before GUN had overrun ARK fifty years ago, when Shadow was created by both Gerald and Black Doom. Gerald had told him of his purpose and who he was, the Ultimate Life Form, the first man-made creation to have a biological mind, heart, and body. His ability to amplify the energy of the Chaos Emeralds was no exception either. But while he was on ARK, he met and befriended Maria. After doing so, Shadow began to question his purpose. Before he went to talk to Gerald about it, GUN had attacked ARK. Shadow was ordered to escape with Maria, only for her to be killed on the way to the escape pods. Shadow tried to help, but Maria put Shadow in the capsule and her final words were asking Shadow to give the people of Earth a chance to live for their dreams. Shadow was then catapulted to Earth, only to be captured and frozen by GUN. When he was released, there was only one thing he could think about: Revenge on the Human Race. He misunderstood the promise he made to Maria, and thought she wanted Earth to be destroyed. Shadow led Eggman to the ARK, and hoped to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to destroy Earth. He planned to betray Eggman at the last second and fire the Cannon at Earth whether it surrendered or not. His purpose for the Black Arms meant nothing to him at the time. But, what he didn't foresee was another hedgehog named Sonic who played the role of defeating Eggman over and over, and the 'Death Sentence' program on the ARK that Gerald stored within it also as means of revenge. Eventually, after the help of a female hedgehog named Amy who helped Shadow remember his true promise to Maria, Shadow teamed up with Sonic, and used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to stop ARK from colliding with Earth. But, Shadow's power burned out after stopped ARK and fell to Earth, where he was long presumed dead. But, unknown to many, he was rescued by Eggman's robots. It was unclear where the doctor either took pity on Shadow or planned to use him at a later date. Perhaps it was both.

One event after another, it led to the final battle with Devil Doom. He had once again rescued Earth from destruction. Now, he was back on ARK, memories slowly coming back to him. But that was the end of the line. What was he to do now? He fulfilled his promise to Maria twice over, and had destroyed the Black Arms. The person in charge of GUN was working to help Earth's future rather than seek power.

He looked at the picture one more time. "Goodbye forever...Shadow the Hedgehog..." he whispered as he tossed the picture away and walked out of the room.

---------------

A/N:Ok, we got the ending of Shadow the Hedgehog down. Don't be fooled. This isn't a one-shot. This is what I believe what happens to Shadow after his game. Currently, I'm debating whether to put ShadAmy in this story or not. A little help, reviewers? R&R please, more coming soon.

Chapter One:Empty Life coming up soon... 


End file.
